January 9, 10, 11, and 12, 1997, Orchestra Hall
BRAHMS Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56a
TURNAGE Some DaysCynthia Clarey, mezzo-soprano
BRAHMS Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 73Mark-Anthony Turnage‘s Some Days was recorded live and released by Decca.

Haitink along with the Orchestra and Chorus acknowledge applause following a performance of Ravel’s Daphnis and Chloe on November 8, 2007 (Todd Rosenberg photo)

October 18, 19, 20, and 23, 2007, Orchestra Hall
WAGNER Siegfried Idyll
MAHLER Symphony No. 6 in A MinorMahler’s Sixth Symphony was recorded live. For CSO Resound, James Mallinson was the producer, and Christopher Willis was the engineer; editing and mixing by Classic Sound Limited, UK.

October 25, 26, and 27, 2007, Orchestra Hall
MOZART Symphony No. 25 in G Minor, K. 183
TURNAGE Chicago Remains
BRAHMS Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major, Op. 83Emanuel Ax, pianoMark-Anthony Turnage’s Chicago Remains was a world premiere, composed in memory of Sir John Drummond. The work was co-commissioned for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra by the Edward F. Schmidt Family Commissioning Fund and the Koussevitzky Music Foundation.

May 8, 9, 10, 11, and 13, 2008, Orchestra Hall
May 16, 2008, Carnegie Hall
HADYN Symphony No. 101 in D Major (The Clock)
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 4 in C Major, Op. 43Shostakovich’s Fourth Symphony was recorded live in Orchestra Hall. For CSO Resound, James Mallinson was the producer, and Christopher Willis was the engineer; audio post-production by Classic Sound Limited, UK. The recording won the 2008Grammy Award for Best Orchestral Performance from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

Daniel Barenboim, the Orchestra’s ninth music director, recorded the four symphonies (along with the Academic Festival and Tragic overtures and the Variations on a Theme by Haydn) live at Orchestra Hall for Erato. Vic Muenzer was producer, Lawrence Rock was the sound engineer, assisted by Christopher Willis; and Konrad Strauss was the mastering engineer. All four symphonies were recorded live in 1993: the First and Third in May, the Fourth in September, and the Second in October.

Recordings of the individual symphonies by other conductors are listed below.

This week Riccardo Muti leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Mahler’s First Symphony, almost exactly one hundred years since Frederick Stock first conducted it in Chicago.

Program page for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s first performances of Mahler’s First Symphony

That first performance of the symphony (sandwiched between Handel’s Concerto grosso, op. 6, no. 2 and Schumann’s Piano Concerto with Josef Hofmann) on November 6, 1914, left Ronald Webster of the Chicago Daily Tribune a bit puzzled: “The Mahler symphony is less important but more interesting to talk about because it is strictly earthy. There is a suggestion in the program notes that Mahler was not wholly serious in this symphony. It was obvious yesterday that he was not serious at all. Even the finale is not serious, though it is tiresome, being too long. But it is the quality of the humor which is likely to cause people to turn up their noses. The humor is a little coarse, definitely ironical, of a barnyard kind and healthy. Mahler is himself partly to blame for such ideas about him. Definite conceptions such as his (though he may not have been serious about them either) are death to all mystic attitude toward this work. . . . He suggests that the first movement is nature’s awakening at early morning. One suspects that Mahler included in nature the cows and chickens as well as the cuckoo and the dewy grass.” The complete review is here.

Martin Sauer produced the recording; Jean Chatauret was the sound engineer, assisted by Christopher Willis; and Martine Guers was the editor for Erato.

In his first concerts at the CSO’s music director designate, Riccardo Muti led performances of Verdi’s Requiem at Orchestra Hall on January 15, 16, and 17, 2009. The performances were recorded live for CSO Resound.

Christopher Adler produced the recording, and Christopher Willis was the recording engineer. David Frost and Tom Lazarus did the mixing, and Frost and Silas Brown performed the stereo mastering. The recording won 2010 Grammy Awards for Best Classical Album and Best Choral Performance from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

But wait, there’s more . . .

Fritz Reiner, the CSO’s sixth music director, led performances of the Requiem at Orchestra Hall on April 3 and 4, 1958. Soloists included Leonie Rysanek, soprano; Regina Resnik, mezzo-soprano; David Lloyd, tenor; and Giorgio Tozzi, bass. The Chicago Symphony Chorus—in their second subscription concert appearances—was prepared by Margaret Hillis.

The March 4 performance was recorded for radio broadcast and since then, it has surfaced on a variety of unauthorized releases. An Italian release on Melodram in 1986 even mistakenly labeled the LP jacket as “Orchestra e Coro: Chicago Lyric Opera.” Most recently, we have seen it on a CD release from Archipel. Unfortunately, the sound quality on both is not great, even though it does provide an interesting snapshot of Reiner’s interpretation of the work, not to mention the sound of a very young Chicago Symphony Chorus.